Friday, January 29, 2010

What are some evidences that the world is near to becoming a cashless society?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock: A number of secular economic experts are saying the world is right on the threshold of a cashless economy. One, for example, is the head of Visa in Europe who said that he thinks there is going to be a cashless society in Europe by 2012. Here we are back to 2012 again and the predictions that it marks an end to the world as we know it. What he made is a bold statement. Even if he is wrong by just a few years, that is an incredible statement to make!

Secondly, just think about the buying practices of most people today. Just about every day people have automatic deposits of their checks. When people go to get gas, so few go in anymore and pay with cash. People just swipe their credit cards.

Dr. Reagan: Well, I am old fashioned. I still sit down at the end of the month and write 35 checks for everything. But, almost every day I am getting an email message from those companies saying we will give you this incentive or that incentive if I would simply sign a statement and let us do the payment automatically. The banks don't want to mail out a thing. Sooner or later they are just going to say we are not going to mail a bill anymore.

Dr. Hitchcock: That's right. What people fail to realize are the unbelievable advantages to being cashless. Think of all the disease from money being handled back and forth. Think of the taxes from the underground economy out there that is based on cash that are not being taxed.

Dr. Reagan: I think of crime, it is a positive thing in regard to crime.

Nathan Jones: Dealers can't make a drug deal if they don't have any cash to trade.

Dr. Reagan: When you go cashless every transaction has a record, and there isn't money dealt under the table.

Dr. Hitchcock: It gets rid of counterfeiting. In my book I enumerate at least 10 things we can say are just good practical advantages that we would all agree on about going cashless. Many of these other movements in Bible prophecy that are moving forward, they seem like good ideas at the time. With a one-world economy coming together it could stop wars. If everybody is tied together economically they won't have to fight with each other anymore.

Dr. Reagan: There are always good things to all technology, like the Internet. There are so many good things about the Internet. We don't have to pay international postage anymore when we send out and talk to people all over the world.

Nathan Jones: With email I don't have to write paper letters anymore.

Dr. Reagan: On the other hand, pornography is unbelievable.

By going cashless there are many positive things in regard to a cashless society, but the reality of it all is that it is paving the way for a world government to control what we buy and what we sell. In fact, right now, when I go to many stores they will give me a discount if I show them a little card, such as at CVS Pharmacy or Kroger Supermarket. When I purchase with a credit card, the store has a record and knows everything I buy. With my buying characteristics they can pinpoint advertising to me based on that information. It is mind-boggling to think of what they can do with that purchasing information.

Dr. Hitchcock: With all the technologies existing out there to do these things, it is only a matter of them being accepted by people.

Nathan Jones: As the world readily accepts these cashless technologies, it's further evidence that we are quickly becoming a cashless society, a society that the Bible foretells one day will be easily controlled by a one-world leader.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Is there any evidence that the financial markets weathering rough storms right now will crash in an economic collapse, bringing about a one-world order?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock: I think that the financial stresses we have seen in our country and around the whole world during the last year or so is really bringing together this whole idea that there is going to ultimately be a world economy. There is an old saying that goes, "When the United States sneezes the whole world catches a cold."

We saw beginning in the Fall of 2008 this financial reverberation throughout the whole world. We have already witnessed in a sense a one-world economy as every nation had to bolster one another. But, when there is a great economic disaster we see it even more. The very first thing the G20 leaders did was to come together and call for a global new deal. Henry Kissinger was calling for a global new world order. Even Rahm Emanuel, Chief of Staff for President Obama, said "You never want to allow a good crisis to go to waste." And so, world leaders who are shrewd use those types of opportunities to really expand their own power. After all, that is what brought Hitler to power in Weimar Germany. It was economic problems that paved the way and set up the platform for him to come to power.

Revelation 6:5-7 goes, "When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, 'Come!' I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, 'A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!'"

What I think we've seen in the last year or so in our world is kind of a precursor to what is ultimately going to happen. That rider on the black horse who runs through the Tribulation represents a time of runaway hyperinflation. It will take everything a man can make just to buy enough food for one day. That is also the same thing that happened back in Germany that paved the way to economic control, because when people have that kind of economic devastation around them they are willing to do anything. They'll turn power over to anybody who can just give them some kind of relief.

Dr. Reagan: That's so true. When you see how the United States is operating right now, where our government is basically just printing money like mad, what that's going to ultimately do is generate hyperinflation. The dollar is going to become increasingly worthless. In fact, the dollar is very rapidly becoming increasingly worthless when you consider the fact that the only thing that has really kept the dollar alive has been that oil is tied to it — the Petro Dollar. Now nations are moving away from that. Even nations like China are saying the world has got to move to a world-wide currency. Tremendous pressure exists right now to get rid of the dollar and go to a one-world currency.

Dr. Hitchcock: A number of countries want to get rid of the dollar, which is kind of the super world reserved currency, and ultimately move to a one-world currency. Not long ago, Russian President Medvedev had a coin that was an example of a possible new one-world currency. It was just a facsimile or a precursor to what could be the real deal, but he had this coin which he keeps in his pocket.

And so, there is this move afoot towards a one-world currency. But, I think there is going to have to be real economic devastation to have this ultimately take place. I think the world will come together economically before it will come together politically, and then the Antichrist will just use that crisis to take power.

Nathan Jones: Like the EU did right? The EU came together economically before they were a political union. The European Union is a model of what is to come.

Dr. Hitchcock: That's right. The economic union brought about political union, which it always does. Even there it was unthinkable that the Germans would give up the Deutsche Mark or that the Italians would give up the Lira or the French would give up their money, but they did. There are about 192 countries in the world, so people say, "How are you ever going to have one currency or one economy among all of them?" Well, we've got 27 nations now in the EU and almost all of them have adopted the Euro, and they all will eventually have to for cohesion.

There is a large percentage of the countries in the world that already have adopted a single currency, so we can see how this shift could easily take place.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock: I would like to say first of all that cashless is not a description of our bank accounts, if you copy. Some people read that and think, "Hey, that describes pretty well where I feel where I am right now!"

The idea for writing my book Cashless came as I was seeing all the things that are happening in our world today. As you know, Bible prophecy teachers have been saying really since the 1970's that a cashless society is coming. There have been some books written in the past on the topic, but there have been so many things happening in recent times about this, especially with advances in technology. I thought it would be great to kind of give an update on this economic movement.

While I was working on the book the financial tsunami in the last of Fall 2008 hit. That event put a lot of this whole movement towards globalism and economic cooperation between nations on fast forward. I was amazed that while working on the book all of these things happened and that they are really going to speed up the fulfillment of this prophecy concerning a cashless world society. Such a divine timing on my work feels like God's providence.

Nathan Jones: Where in the Bible does it say that one day the world will have a cashless society?

Dr. Hitchcock: An important point that I like to make is that the Bible never specifically says anywhere there is going to be a cashless society in the future. But, in Revelation 13 the Bible says that this "beast coming out of the sea" whom we call "Antichrist" — this final world ruler — when he comes on the scene is going to have a man who is kind of his second-in-command and propaganda expert. This "beast coming out of the earth," I call him the "World Economic Czar." In the Bible he is also called the "False Prophet." He is going to set up a system where everyone in the world is going to have to worship the Antichrist and take his mark in order to be able to buy and sell.

Now, with cash people would not be able to control the world economy, because as long as there is cash people can operate outside of the system by slipping some money under the table. For there to be an iron-clad system where you cannot buy or sell — that absolute supply and demand are controlled — it is going to have to be a cashless society. So, Revelation 13 is where I find the cashless society alluded to in the Bible, and many other prophecy teachers have agreed that's what Revelation 13 means.

Dr. Reagan: As far back as I have intensely studied Bible prophecy, which would go back to the late 19th Century (not that I was alive then, but I read books from back then), I have found people saying there is going to be a cashless society in the future. This is not some new prophecy, nor is it some new interpretation. It's not something that you are just reading into the news. This is something that people have been saying long before you came on the scene.

Dr. Hitchcock: That's right. Edward Bellamy wrote his book Looking Backward in the late 1800's. In 1887, Bellamy was a utopian writer who predicted credit cards as well as a cashless society. This idea, then, has been part of the secular fabric of our society.

Bible prophecy teachers have also seen in the Bible that someone is going to control the world one day. In an economy where one cannot buy or sell, those in power would then have absolute control of world finances, and thereby every single person. This cannot occur without the society being totally cashless.

Dr. Reagan: Revelation 13:16-17 goes, "He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name." And so, if one can't buy and sell unless they have this mark, then every transaction in the world has to be monitored, right?

Dr. Hitchcock: That's right. Society will have to be cashless using some type of electronic system for that to be true.

It is amazing that the Bible predicted a cashless society back in the times of wood, stone and togas! This to me is another verifiable point and confirmation that the Bible is the Word of God and that it is true.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

How does the Christian respond to all the fear out there surrounding 2012?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based on a book he has just published about the widespread speculation and even hysteria that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012. The book it titled 2012: The Bible and the End of the World.

Responding to the Fear Surrounding 2012

Dr. Hitchcock: How do we as Christians respond to those who are scared of the world ending in 2012? I think there are a couple of things we need to do as believers.

First of all, when opportunities like this come up similar to when The Da Vinci Code came out teaching error and deception, I think we need to step in as Christians and take this as an opportunity to arm ourselves with the truth. We can bend the trajectory of all this fear and deception to God's purposes, using it as an opportunity. Go to people in your family and workplace and tell them the truth of God's Word.

Secondly, and I think this is one thing we all need to remember, this isn't just a trite cliché — God is in control. God has the future under control and God is taking it all somewhere. We as believers need to rest in that every day of our lives. We need to really believe that and let it sink down and percolate all the way down deep into our hearts and minds.

Dr. Reagan: I like that point you just made. It is one that I make over and over to people because I think people really need to hear it. God is on the Throne. God still hears and answers prayers. He still has everything under control. Even when it looks like the world is out of control here, God has the wisdom and power to orchestrate all the evil of mankind to the triumph of His will in history.

I'm always reminded by Psalm 2 that while all the political leaders of this world are shaking their fists at God and saying, "I will do what I please," God sits in the heavens and laughs. He laughs not because He's not concerned, but because He's got it all under control. When I see the world just falling apart at the seams, I think of Psalm 2 over and over, and I urge everyone to read Psalms 2 as it will be encouraging to them.

Dr. Hitchcock: There is a name for God in the book of Revelation where He is called "The Almighty," in fact nine times. I call that name "The Prophetic Name of God." That name in the Greek means "God holds everything in His hands." God has His hands on everything. He is the Almighty, and I love that because as the old song goes, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands," and He really does. In the Greek the word is "Pantocrator," which translates "The Almighty." God has His hands on everything. To me, that is the great comfort we can have when we look at this world today which appears in utter, out-of-control chaos.

Nathan Jones: I find great hope when reading the second half of Isaiah 46:11. God says in that verse, "What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do." God has already accomplished His plans in His mind, and we can trust that we are in His hands. We are protected in His hands, and so as Christians we need to just give it all over to God.

We worry so much because we want to control the situation around us, but we can't. We are too small, so we have to put our trust in God. Know that He is going to enact His plans and that in the end we will be with Him forever in glorified bodies in Heaven. That is where we need to focus our sights.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based on a book he has just published about the widespread speculation and even hysteria that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012. The book it titled 2012: The Bible and the End of the World.

The Bible on 2012

Dr. Hitchcock: The Bible doesn't have anything to say about 2012, and I think that is very important, or about any specific end times date. In fact, when people set dates like this, they are not reading the Bible. In the Book of Revelation there are no dates set in it.

Jesus said we are not to set dates. He even said in Matthew 24:35-36, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." Clearly Jesus during His incarnation didn't even know.

History is littered with date setters, and they have always been wrong. When someone sets a date for the Second Coming of Jesus or the end of the world, you can be sure that's not the day it's going to happen.

Remember right before Jesus went to Heaven His disciples had asked Him in Acts 1:6-7, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He answered them, "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority." So, not only are we not to look at 2012, the Bible actually forbids setting dates for the Second Coming of Christ and for the end of the world.

We know that 2012 can't be the time of the Second Coming because if it were the Tribulation would had to have started in 2005 and the Rapture would have already occurred. Now, the Rapture could happen in 2012, because it could happen at any year and at any time, but 2012 cannot be the time of the Second Coming nor the end of the world. The world is not going to end until the end of the Millennial Reign of Christ

Even when Jesus Christ returns to this Earth the world does not come to an end. It's going to be renovated before entering into the Messianic Kingdom, which is the Millennial Reign of Christ. There is going to be a tremendous renovation of the Earth. It is going to be paradise regained. And, then again, when we get to the end of that 1,000 years, Revelation 21:1 says, "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea." I think God is going to take it all apart and put it all back together again. So, technically, if someone says, "When's the world going to end?" we can reply, "At least 1,007 years from now."

In effect, the Earth will never end; it will go on forever and ever. There is going to be a new Heaven and a new Earth that God is going to make, a glorious one, one that has been returned to its original perfection. The population is going to dwell the Bible says in righteousness and in perfection. I can hardly wait for that day to come!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Are there Web robots out on the Internet telling us that the world will end in 2012?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based on a book he has just published about the widespread speculation and even hysteria that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012. The book it titled 2012: The Bible and the End of the World.

Web Bots Saying 2012

Nathan Jones: I have a technical background on the Web from professionally building websites and applications. Your book 2012 explains the Web Bots Project and its involvement in the whole 2012 end of the world scenario. Web bots are very important to search engine optimization, but that they can predict the end of the world is just crazy talk.

Dr. Hitchcock: I am the most technologically challenged person in the world, so someone else could probably explain it better than I could. But, these web robots, also called crawlers or spiders, go out and find information and how they are related to one another for indexing. Supposedly, they were originally created for economic forecasting, which they haven't been very good at obviously. The particular Web bots made by the Web Bots Project were getting all this feedback about 2012 being an ominously important year.

The big problem with using Web bots is that all the information placed on the Internet was put there by people. We generated it, and a lot of it is incorrect. 2012 being an ominous year according to the Web Bots Project is really just prophecy by majority vote.

Google "2012" and you will find most of the articles are about the end of the world in 2012. Some then automatically conclude that the end of the world is going to occur in 2012. In reality it is self-fulfilling.

People who believe Web bots predict the world ending in 2012 claim they can tap into a preconscious out there and forecast this. But, again, it is another kind of grasping at straws.

What Christians have is the Word of God — the Bible — and it really does tell us the future.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based on a book he has just published about the widespread speculation and even hysteria that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012. The book it titled 2012: The Bible and the End of the World.

Bible Codes Revealing 2012

Dr. Hitchcock: Bible codes was a huge phenomenon a few years ago with a lot of flurry. All the Hebrew letters in the first five books of the Old Testament were searched using what is called "Equal Distant Letter Sequencing" for clues. It is much easier to sequence in Hebrew because you don't have vowels.

The sequencing or the skips over sequential letters can be up to 500 letters! Eventually you'd make some kind of word sequence.

So, these codes are found hidden in there. The problem with the technique is that it has been used on Moby Dick and War and Peace with the same results as when using the Bible.

There are a lot of problems with Bible codes, and I talk about those a lot in my book 2012. One of the problems is that Jesus didn't ever use this method. You have to use computers to find Bible codes, which means this was hidden to people before the advent of computers. Another problem with Bible codes to me is that it looks like an exercise in Monday morning quarterbacking. The codes come along and tell you things only after the events have already taken place.

Back in 2006 when Michael Drosnin wrote the original Bible Code book, he said 2006 was going to be a time of nuclear holocaust, or Armageddon. Well, it didn't happen. Now in Bible Code 2 he says he found the code "2012 Earth annihilated." But, he already made these big predictions for 2006 that didn't happen. So, again, it is like Nostradamus and these others — they come up dry and they're wrong, but they want us to believe the next prophecy.

It's like the fellow who wrote the pamphlet "88 Reasons Why Jesus is Coming Back in 1988," and then when that didn't come to pass he wrote another one called "89 Reasons Why He is Coming Back in 1989." Neither one of those books are selling too well today either, by the way.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Somehow or other Nostradamus always seems to sneak into anything cataclysmic. How has Nostradamus gotten into the 2012 end of the world scenario?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based on a book he has just published about the widespread speculation and even hysteria that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012. The book it titled 2012: The Bible and the End of the World.

Nostradamus Talks 2012

Dr. Hitchcock: Nostradamus was the French prophet, or alleged prophet, who used to look into pieces of glass or water. He used this method called "scrying" and would come up with these alleged prophecies written in four-lined quatrains. Scrying is an occultic method which should tell anyone who believes the Bible and is a Christian that Nostradamus was way off. The quatrains he wrote are very vague and could apply to all kinds of situations after the event. It is kind of like the old saying, "even a clock that doesn't work is right twice a day."

Nostradamus' prophecies are all so vague, but he did actually give one very specific prophecy. He wrote:

"The seventh month of the year 1999 the great kind of terror would appear in the sky, and the king of the Mongols would come forth."

Well, that didn't happen because we were alive then. And so, we know that at least on that account where he was actually very specific that he is a false prophet. I don't think we should put any stock whatsoever in anything Nostradamus had to say.

Dr. Reagan: I would agree 100% with that! I did a lot of research on Nostradamus one time and I found as I would read those quatrains that they made no sense whatsoever, but people would see all kinds of things in them after the event. I found out something else, too, that you probably know, and that is when you are looking for quatrains on the Internet by Nostradamus you have to be very careful because quite often his followers rewrite them to make them say what they want them to say. There are all kinds of false quatrains out there.

Dr. Hitchcock: That's right, after 9/11 there were several false quatrains about the two towers. But, then, people went in and added other things to them to make them fit even better with what happened at 9/11.

Dr. Reagan: I understand there has been a new book found by him that he had written and actually illustrated. It has not really been released to the public yet, but there is speculation that there are prophecies concerning 2012?

Dr. Hitchcock: Yes. It is called The Lost Book of Nostradamus. You can get on the Internet and look up and see his drawings, and that is where some say he points to 2012. But, the problem is supporter of a 2012 end-of-the-world scenario look at these intricate drawings and they'll say, "that this means this, and this means this, and this means this, therefore it points to 2012." But, if they're wrong at one point along the way it is like a house of cards — it all comes down.

Nathan Jones: That reminds me, back in the 1980's Orson Welles did this big special on everything Nostradamus said, and he predicted J.F.K. getting shot and everything all the way up to that point that Orson Welles did that show. He then made a big deal about looking into the future. He said Nostradamus predicted world cataclysms for the last part of 80's and the destruction of the world in the '90, but no such thing happened.

Dr. Reagan: What always confounds me about Nostradamus is the fact that the world will give him so much significance and importance, but his vague statements have no meaning whatsoever as opposed to the precise, specific prophecies in the Word of God about the future that are being fulfilled right before our very eyes. The world just ignores those.

Dr. Hitchcock: That is right. There are hundreds of prophecies in the Bible. In fact, Dr. John Walvoord said there were 500 that have been fulfilled. The Bible has a verifiable track record we can put to the test, such as predicting Cyrus over 100 years before he was born by name. And yet, people will turn to Mayan calendars and Nostradamus instead of the Bible. It really shows the heart of man and it blinds them.

Nathan Jones: They're blinded by a prejudice against God.

Dr. Reagan: When you start talking about Bible prophecy people say all that stuff about the Messiah we just read that in there. They don't understand that in addition to Messianic prophecies there are 100's of prophecies about nations, about individuals, about cities and towns that have been fulfilled already.

Dr. Hitchcock: Yes, it is a verifiable track record we can look. The Bible really proves to us that it is self-authenticating and that it is from God.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Is the Mayan Long Calendar the only factor supporting the end-of-the-world 2012 scenario?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based on a book he has just published about the widespread speculation and even hysteria that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012. The book it titled 2012: The Bible and the End of the World.

The Factors Involved in 2012

Dr. Hitchcock: The Mayan Long Calendar is primarily used as the basis of the 2012 phenomenon, but there are several other things that apply as well.

We do know that on December 21, 2012, even astronomers say there is going to be this alignment between the Earth and the Sun with the center of the Milky Way Galaxy for the first time in 26,000 years. The Mayan's knew that, I mean, that is staggering that they knew that! The problem is they knew a lot about calendars and a lot about astronomy, but they didn't know the future, and that is the problem with any end time date setting scenario.

Even their ziggurats were supposed to be living calendars. One of the largest ones they have has 91 steps on each of the four sides, and including the top, that equals 365 steps. On the spring solstice of March 21st every year at the big Kukulcán Ziggurat (pyramid) down in Mexico, when the sun hits it at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the shadow on it looks like a serpent that wiggles down the stairs and comes down to this big serpent head at the base. The Mayans were able to position the ziggurat where that shadow would move to the right place— absolutely stunning!

Besides the galactic alignment contributing the whole 2012 end date scenario, 2012 is supposed to a very active year for solar flares, which is factually actually going to happen.

Then you've got Nostradamus. He always seems to be everywhere all over the History Channel. You also have Bible codes. Some people point to computers and the Web Bot Project. They say that points to 2012 as well.

Back to galactic alignment, there really is going to be a galactic alignment of the Earth and the Sun which are going to be lined up for the first time they say in 26,000 years with the center of our galaxy, which means that the sun will temporarily block whatever energy comes from the center of the galaxy to the Earth. Of course, this is where all the speculation comes in about what that is going to cause. Some say the poles of the Earth will flip, which is basically the thesis of the 2012 movie that is out there. The flipping of the poles it is believed would cause worldwide devastations. That only adds a little bit to the fear of 2012 because there is actually something that is going to take place that people can point to.

In truth, the whole galactic alignment event already started several years ago, and in fact the more perfect alignment was several years ago, even more perfect than where it will be at in December of 2012. No expert has put any stock into galactic alignment causing the end of the world whatsoever.

Nothing has happened so far. But, it is one of those things that kind of puts enough little pseudo-science behind it that makes it more believable. Those who support a 2012 end time scenario can say there is going to be this galactic alignment that is going to take place.

There really is good science behind the solar flare idea. The Sun goes through sun spot cycles. Every 11 years there is a sun spot cycle. Some of them are much more dramatic than others. We are due supposedly for a very dramatic sun spot cycle. The last time there was one this dramatic was the last 1950's, but that was back before we had satellites and a lot of the complicated electrical grid that we have today. And so, we really don't know what is going to take place. There are some things that could happen related to that, but it is not going to be a mass extinction event.

Solar flares could act like an electromagnetic pulse which would interfere with the electrical grids or satellites and things of that nature. This is legitimate because NASA has actually issued a warning about this, and we need to take these things seriously.

I need to emphasize, I'm not saying that there couldn't be something that happens in 2012. Every year there are some unusual things that happen, but it is not going to be the Second Coming of Christ and it is not going to be the end of the world. That is the thesis of my book 2012.

Also, the Earth is protected by our atmosphere from solar flares, so it's not like they are going to erupt and melt the planet or anything. At most it is going to be electrical disruptions. Now, how large they will be, no one knows. If there is enough disruption of the electrical grids it could be significant, but again it won't be a mass extinction event like so many are saying.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Could it be that just one person concocted the whole story about the world ending cataclysmically in 2012, resulting in all the current hysteria?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based on a book he has just published about the widespread speculation and even hysteria that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012. The book it titled 2012: The Bible and the End of the World.

The Source of 2012

Dr. Hitchcock: All the 2012 hysteria can be traced back to José Arguelles back in 1987 when he came out with his book called The Mayan Factor.

He talked a lot about Harmonic Convergence at that time. After all, the real underpinnings of this whole 2012 phenomenon really is based in the New Age. In fact, this has been called by some "The New Age Eschatology" and the end time view of the whole New Age Movement. Just like the other religions of the world all have some view of how things are going to end. 2012 is from the New Age viewpoint.

It is fascinating that the Mayans themselves never said anything like Arguelles has, but in popular culture it has caught on. Of course, the movie that is out on this — the most expensive movie ever made on 2012 — is really feeding the 2012 phenomenon. And, I think the other thing that is feeding this is a lot of fear out there today in our culture and a lot of uneasiness.

Not one single Mayan academic expert in the world agrees that this calendar marks the end of the world. There's not one. Scientists at NASA and others say a galactic alignment is not going to cause the end of the world in 2012. This idea is all being driven by people from the New Age background.

There are now hundreds of books out there on 2012. If you Google "2012 End of the World" you get 18 million links, last time I checked. I mean, that is how much hysteria is out there, and it is really causing a lot of fear and anxiety in the hearts of a lot of people.

Friday, January 15, 2010

With all the 2012 end-time talk, the word "Mayan" comes up a lot. Just who were the Mayans?

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based on a book he has just published about the widespread speculation and even hysteria that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012. The book it titled 2012: The Bible and the End of the World.

The Mayans

Dr. Hitchcock: The ancient Mayans lived down in the area of modern Yucatan Peninsula. Folks would recognize it who have been to Cancun in Mexico. Their territory went on down into modern Guatemala.

The Mayans built incredible structures. Everything about their whole civilization was built in relation to the universe, pointing to something important in relation to the stars and their alignments. It is really incredible to read about them.

The Mayans were amazing mathematicians and astronomers. They were literally obsessed with time, I mean, they loved time! They had lots of calendars — 20 that they used. They had three main ones. They had this Long Count Calendar that measured periods of 5,125 years.

The Mayans saw all of time really in five ages with four of them according to their methodology having already passed. The last age started on August 11, 3114 B.C. and it is going to end on December 21, 2012. Now, some say these other four ages all ended in some great cataclysm, although there is a lot of speculation about that. The problem with that is most of this supposedly occurred before recorded history. And, so, we really don't know. Even the Mayan descendants that live down there today say that 2012 is not going to be the end of the world and that is not what they intended at all. Some say 2012 is going to be the end of the world on December 21st. Some say it is going to be a new beginning — a great global transformation of human consciousness — that is going to take place.

One thing fascinating to me about the Mayan's is that without computers or telescopes they knew that the Earth turns on its axis, wobbling one degree every 72 years. To complete one of these cycles — called the Precession of the Equinox — takes almost 26,000 years. That precession will be completed on December 21st of 2012.

Their civilization started before Christ around 1500 B.C., but they really became a greater people around 400 B.C. They reached their peak around 800 or 900 A.D.

Then, they just vanished and no one knows what happened. Nobody knows if it was disease, or over-farming, or famine. That just adds to the whole mystery of these people.

The Mayans knew an incredible amount about time and they knew an incredible amount about the universe. The inventions they had and the exactness of their calendars were simply amazing. I always tell people if it depended on me we wouldn't have the wheel yet. I just look at these people and the incredibly advanced civilization they had and am just amazed.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

On Tuesday, January 12, 2010, the country of Haiti was rocked by the most devastating earthquake in nearly 200 years.

The massive magnitude-7.0 quake flattened the capital of Port-Au-Prince, leveling everything from neighborhoods, hospitals, schools, cathedrals, the main prison and even the president's palace.

An uncountable number of people lay buried among the rubble, from public figures such as the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission and the Roman Catholic archbishop, to little children in the arms of their parents. The number of dead cannot even begin to be known until the rescue crews gathering from all over the world arrive and begin their rescue efforts, but the numbers could very well be as Haitian Leading Sen. Youri Latortue told the Associated Press ("Thousands feared dead in Haiti quake; many trapped," Tues., Jan. 13, 2009, Jonathan M. Katz) — that 500,000 could very well be dead.

"Death was everywhere in Port-Au-Prince. Bodies of tiny children were piled next to schools. Corpses of women lay on the street with stunned expressions frozen on their faces as flies began to gather. Bodies of men were covered with plastic tarps or cotton sheets.... Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed... Even the main prison in the capital fell down."

Increasing Earthquakes

As horrible as the tragic earthquake in Haiti has been, it hasn't been the first major earthquake in 2010. Just a week earlier the Solomon Islands were rocked with a series of quakes, the greatest a magnitude-6.2. The U.S. Geological Survey's Latest Earthquakes M5.0+ in the World website reports a long series of 5.0 or higher earthquakes, ranging from Tonga to Java to Taiwan to Haiti and to just off the California coast (a magnitude-6.5).

The world continues to painfully witness what NaturalNews.com reported in their article "Natural Disasters Up More Than 400 Percent in Two Decades" (Thurs., Jun. 5, 2008, David Gutierrez) — natural disasters are increasing in frequency, ravaging the world, our countries, and even our own homes.

"The number of natural disasters around the world has increased by more than four times in the last 20 years, according to a report released by the British charity Oxfam. Oxfam analyzed data from the Red Cross, United Nations and researchers at Louvain University in Belgium. It found that the earth is currently experiencing approximately 500 natural disasters per year, compared with 120 per year in the early 1980s. The number of weather-related disasters in 2006 was 240, compared with 60 in 1980... Between 1985 and 1994, Oxfam found that 174 million people were affected by disasters each year. In the following decade, this figure increased by 70 percent to 254 million people per year."

What is the cause?

The Bible gives us the correct answer to all this weather upheaval — God is speaking to us. God has always spoken through signs of nature. The Bible provides us with many signs we are to watch for that will signal the soon return of Jesus, including natural disasters. Jesus said these signs would be like "birth pangs" (Matt. 24:8). That means they will increase in frequency and intensity the closer we get to the Lord's return. And that is exactly what appears to be happening today.

Why God?

God uses signs of nature to underline the importance of major events, like Jesus' soon return.

God also uses them as remedial judgments to call nations to repentance. Haiti is mired in occultism and spiritism, resulting in it being the poorest and most spiritually oppressive nation in the Western hemisphere.

Because of our rejection of God and His moral standards, we tragically are the ones truly responsible for these natural disasters. As long as the nations continue to reject God, He will use natural disasters to yell — "I love you! Repent and come back to me!"

What to do?

God's Word makes it clear that when He sends discipline, the fundamental purpose is never to punish. Instead, the purpose is to call us to repentance so that we might be saved. Here's how the prophet Isaiah expressed it: "When your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness" (Isa. 26:9b).

We are tempting Him to move us from judgment to destruction. Our God is so merciful. He is patiently sending us one natural disaster wake-up call after another because He never pours out His wrath without warning. And the greatest "coming wrath" already visible on the far horizon is the 7-year Tribulation (1 Thes. 1:10), which will include two of the worst earthquakes the world will ever experience.

And so, we each need to repent individually for our own rebellion and selfishness. We need to repent nationally for removing God from our society, for our murders from the womb to the elderly, for our obsession with sexual promiscuity, for our fascination with the occult, and for our lack of support for Israel's right to exist. We need to accept Jesus as our Savior, the only way we will be rescued from the "coming wrath."

When Jesus finally returns, the curse will be lifted and the natural calamities will cease.

Note: If you would like to join Lamb & Lion Ministries in contributing to the relief efforts in Haiti, we recommend both Samaritan’s Purse and the Baptist Haiti Mission. Continue in prayer that the relief efforts will greatly spread the hope of Jesus Christ and free Haiti of the hold Satan has on it.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Dr. David Reagan and I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Mark Hitchcock on the show Christ in Prophecy. Mark is a leading Bible prophecy expert, prolific author who has penned over 20 books on the end times, senior pastor of Faith Bible Church located in Oklahoma, and adjunct faculty member of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He is also a much in demand speaker at Bible prophecy conferences all over the nation.

Dr. Hitchcock was invited to answer questions based on a book he has just published about the widespread speculation and even hysteria that the world will come to an end on December 21, 2012. The book it titled 2012: The Bible and the End of the World.

Before we got into whether or not the world will end in 2012, Mark shared with us how the Lord had taken him on an unexpected route on his way to becoming a full-time pastor. It is an encouraging story about finding one's place in God's will.

Mark Hitchcock on God Preparing Your Path

Nathan Jones: Dr. Hitchcock, I love reading your books, and particularly I would like to know a little more about you as this is the first time I have gotten to meet you in person.

Dr. Hitchcock: Well, I grew up in Oklahoma City area. I went to Oklahoma State University. Then I went to law school after that and I worked for four years at the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals for a judge there. Then, I left there and went to Dallas Seminary and came back to Edmond, Oklahoma where I have been the Pastor of Faith Bible Church there now for 18 years. It is hard to believe it has been that long.

Nathan Jones: With you being a lawyer, what really got you into Bible prophecy?

Dr. Hitchcock: I got interested in Bible prophecy as a young man of about 12-13 years old. Late Great Planet Earth came out in May of 1970 when I was 11 years of age. The people in my youth group and my sister who was a couple years older than me — all these young people were reading this book. I remember reading it as a boy and understanding that it really has to do with what is going on in our world today.

Like a lot of young people I was kind of dormant in my spiritual life for awhile. Then, in my early 20's when I began to study the Bible, I just realized there were large portions of the Bible I had no idea what they were about. I came to see that if I was going to really understand the Bible, I had to understand Bible prophecy. So, that's really what got me interested.

What I would really say for myself is that I have a love for Bible prophecy, but really I love the Bible. And to me, if you love the Bible which is almost one-thirds prophecy, then you are going to love prophecy. So, I don't consider myself as someone who is necessarily in love with prophecy. I just love the Bible, and prophecy is a big part of it.

Dr. Reagan: Now that you have become a Bible prophecy teacher, lecturer, writer, and so forth, and you look back on your life, how would you say your legal training has helped you?

Dr. Hitchcock: When you go to law school you learn how to examine evidence and not just take what people say at face value. One needs to look at the evidence, examine it, and think critically about it. I think the experience I had in law school shows God's providence in our lives. I went to work for a judge researching and writing opinions for him. I had no idea that I was going to become someone who wrote books. You can look back on your life and see how God was really guiding and leading your life every step of the way for what He ultimately wanted you to do, back when you didn't even know it.

Dr. Reagan: Same thing happened to me. I ran from the Lord for 20 years. You weren't running, but I was, because the Lord had called me and I said, "Here I am, Lord, send anyone but me." And, I finally came to the end of myself and said, "Okay, Lord, I am tired of this." He then handed me a ministry in Bible prophecy. For 20 years I had been teaching International Politics and Bible prophecy and the end times is all about international politics, so even when I was running He was preparing me for what He wanted me to do.

Nathan Jones: I experienced a similar path to full-time ministry. After Bible school I served at the headquarters of a mission board to prepare myself for the mission field. After two years there my wife and I were preparing to go to Brazil to work with street children. The candidate director suggested I get some real world experience first, so I moved on from the mission.

I quickly discovered a Bible degree will not get one full-time secular employment, so I went to tech school and discovered a love for Web development. I gained a lot of experience in Internet banking and then working for a large ISP building websites and ecommerce packages for our clients, as well as starting my own Web development/design business.

As much as I was enjoying my work, it felt far from the original goal of going to the mission field. And then, I saw online that a mega-church in Kentucky was looking for someone to build and maintain their website. This was an opportunity to merge my technical skills with my ministry training in service of the Lord.

After six years at the church and time in seminary, through a mutual friend I found out Dr. Reagan was looking for a Web Minister to reach the world for Christ over the Internet. I moved to Texas and found that now my reach was no longer just to a single congregation, but to the entire world. My mission field just expanded potentially to over two billion people. I look back now and see how God had been preparing me for a mission field beyond my wildest dreams, and feel so blessed to be a part of His work.

Dr. Hitchcock: It is wonderful to look back on our lives and see how God has worked. I think doing that can be an encouragement to parents watching their children and even young people who are wondering about what God wants them to do. Just follow what God is showing you to do and along the way He will be preparing your path.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

In response to over 6,000 rockets being fired into southern Israel by Hamas militants in Gaza since 2005, Israel launched Operation Cast Lead in December 27, 2008, in an attempt to stop the rocket fire, make their southwestern border more secure, and cripple Hamas enough to end their barrage. For the Gaza Strip, the incursion resulted in a supposed 1,300 Palestinians killed, 5,500 injured, and 4,000 buildings were reduced to rubble. For the Israelis, a mere 13 Israeli troops were reportedly killed in the conflict.

A day before Barack Obama was sworn in as President of the United States, though, Israel ceased their air strikes and brought home their ground troops, signaling to the world that the conflict was over. Progress in the conflict made it look like Israel would be the complete and decisive victor, and yet, they withdrew from Gaza, surprisingly not even leaving a contingent behind.

Was pulling out a way of showing an upcoming American president that Israel was serious in talking peace with this new mediator? Did Israel pull out because United Nations' pressure was forcing Israel to expedite their maneuvers before a U.N. censure was enacted or peace keeping troops were inserted? Or, is it true as Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayeh had declared, "We say proudly that Gaza has won the war, the resistance has won the war, and Hamas has won the war" (reported in The Jerusalem Post, Friday, Jan. 30, 2009).

Who actually won and what was actually accomplished has left much of the whole world a year later still scratching their heads over these questions. Israelis claimed at the time they had met their objectives, reducing Hamas' tunnel networks and rocket supply.

The searing reality of Operation Cast Lead, though, is that Israel only temporarily achieved their objectives. Hamas continues to have an iron control over the people of Gaza, abusing their fellow Palestinians like hostages. The launch of missiles into southern Israel continues with more than 280 rockets and mortars fired at Israel since the end of Operation Cast Lead. Aid poured into the country for rebuilding like never before, which Hamas intercepted and used to fund their rearming. In the Muslim world, the scrappy little resistance against the "Zionist regime" won Hamas great honor. In the free world, though muffled comments did arise that Israel had the right to protect itself, the largest gathering of world voices led by U.N. Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon shouted that Israel was the evil aggressor and is seeking to bring up Israel for war crimes. By the end of the conflict, it became too obvious that Israel lost the public relations war, a war that Hamas is clearly an expert at winning.

And now, Israel Today reports in their article "IDF: Southern Israel to Come Under Attack Again Soon" (Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010 by Israel Today Staff) that "The head of the Israeli army's Southern Command, Gen. Yoav Galant, warned local regional council heads on Wednesday [Jan. 6, 2010] that sustained artillery attacks from Hamas-ruled Gaza are likely to resume soon... Galant told the residents of Israel's western Negev region that they should prepare themselves for another round of fighting.'"

Adding actions to Gen. Galant's words, Israel responded by dropping leaflets over Gaza warning residents to stay away from areas where terrorists are operating. Then, on January 7, the Israel Air Force [IAF] bombed "one terror tunnel in the central Gaza Strip, two smuggling tunnels in the Rafah Border area [Egyptian–Gaza border], and one weapons-manufacturing facility in Gaza City" (Bridges for Peace, Jan. 8, 2010, IDF Press Release).

It appears the world is looking at the beginnings of what Israel will have to do in Gaza to finish what they started — an Operation Cast Lead Redux.

Only a year later, though, it is a much scarier world for Israel. Gaza is now better equipped with missiles that can reach as far north as Tel Aviv. Hizbollah well controls Lebanon and has nearly 40,000 missiles pointed south at Israel. Syria and Iran have made a compact to aid each other if Israel defends itself against an Iranian nuclear threat. Turkey has cut ties with Israel and has sided with Syria. The United States is arming Saudi Arabia and other Muslim nations much to Israel's dismay, clearly indicating it is no longer a friend. And, the world's public opinion is clearly for the Palestinians.

There is no doubt that Israel looks friendless, helpless and hopeless against these staggering odds. And, that's exactly how God likes it! As 1 Corinthians 1:27 states, "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong." In their apparently weakened state, Israel is looking ahead to what will prophetically be their biggest victory — first through the Psalm 83 subjugation of their hostile Arab neighbors and the nuclear destruction of the biggest hot seat of terrorist activity in Damascus (Isa. 17; Jer. 49), and then the Gog-Magog Battle (Ezek. 38-39).

The second incursion into Gaza may only delay the inevitable, but the inevitable eventually has to occur. We could see this all begin to come down in 2010, or not, it all depends on the Rapture.